Video capabilities are increasing in importance in the workplace. As geopolitical borders become more and more blurred, the world has communication needs that increase every day. Companies deploy employees throughout the globe, universities carry out research in several continents simultaneously and scientists collaborate daily with counterparts on the other side of the world. Simultaneously, mobile technology advances by leaps and bounds rapidly outpacing the growth of PCs. As a result, many corporations have turned to videoconferencing and video capabilities to keep staff, clients and vendors interconnected with the push of a button.

Up until recently, having video conferencing capabilities in some meeting room was enough to meet the needs of most corporations. But as this tool becomes of daily use to many people around the globe, companies have found themselves needing to better manage their video products to sustain strategic initiatives. Enter a recent partnership between Vidyo and Kaltura, and the business owner will have at his or her disposal the technology necessary to manage all video needs in the company.

Kaltura MediaSpace

The VidyoReplay option will record and/or webcast your live video conferencing. Users can watch real-time feeds or recorded video through the web at their convenience. For some businesses this capability will be sufficient, and they may not need any additional features to fulfill their needs. However, others that rely more and more on video content will rejoice at the partnership with Kaltura.

Kaltura has been designed to help manage video content in terms of cataloguing, storing, searching and accessing information. The interface between VidyoReplay and Kaltura has been designed so the interaction between both platforms is virtually transparent to the user, but the results are impactful. Furthermore, this integration also includes linking with content management systems and/or learning management systems in existence within a company’s IT infrastructure. The end user of this integrated product will be able to easily and effectively access material, search the archives and share recordings with others.

The integrated solution between Kaltura and VidyoReplay will prove to be an invaluable tool for those on the go. Networks and devices using VidyoReplay already will benefit from Kaltura, a direct result of needs expressed by mobile users. By accessing the Kaltura MediaSpace, the user will be able to manage videos in a similar way to popular video sites. They will also be able to upload directly to apps such as Blackboard and SharePoint.

The best way to explain how this integration will impact your business is to bring it to the end-user’s level. For example, doctors will be able to access medical information from wherever they are, as well as consult with counterparts from around the globe. In this era of healthcare reform, having this capability translates into increasing access to healthcare for many underserved populations and potentially eliminate some of the barriers to healthcare. Others exploring the Vidyo-Kaltura option may also realize the cost-savings that could result from having improved video management capabilities.

Most people in an organization are not directly involved with the infrastructure that supports a company’s video capabilities. However, many everyday activities rely on everyone’s ability to webcast information and materials seamlessly and in real-time. The right kind of software and platform will become an asset to the organization. The partnership between Vidyo and Kaltura comes to fulfill precisely that void. Even if a business is at its infant stages and not needing much in terms of video content management, the option of having Vidyo and Kaltura interface allows the business owner to be ready for future growth.

Videoconferencing is not a thing of the future; it is happening now and it is happening quickly. Companies cannot afford to be left behind or to have archaic ways to manage their video content. They need to easily categorize, search and archive its video property so it becomes an asset and tool to improve performance of employees and of the business in general. Failure to pay close attention to your business’s growing needs in terms of video and video management can threaten a company’s sustainability. By engaging with industry leaders such as Vidyo and Kaltura, the business owner can rest assured that content will be managed effectively in a way his employees can easily access and operate.

The benefits of video conferencing and telepresence have been known for years. Companies know the advantage of allowing more people, and in remote locations, to attend the same meetings or training sessions. Schools use telepresence to save costs while bringing top professors to a vastly greater number of students than was ever possible before. Medical specialists are able to attend to patients on the other side of the planet.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), for example, uses a telepresence room to connect to ships at sea. This allows for live communication with ships crew and remotely operated vehicles. According to (NOAA) physical scientist Adam Skarke, “… if we’re going somewhere we’ve never been before, we don’t know what we’re going to find. We don’t have enough bunks to bring an expert for everything we find." When an expert in a certain field is needed, he or she can go to the telepresence room to assist in the operation. This video feed is also made available to the public.

The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), has adopted telepresence on an enormous scale. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal: "Some 300 sessions a day can take place among the 20,000 scientists affiliated with CERN, though they work in institutes scattered around the globe."

As telepresence services have matured, businesses that were once reluctant to adopt the technology are now embracing it. Telepresence is not only getting more affordable, it is also becoming more immersive by adding features for better collaboration. Direct 2-way HD video and audio communication is now becoming standard, letting participants feel they are in a real face-to-face meeting with no video choppiness or time delays. Endpoint devices can be anything from smart phones, tablets or desktop computers, up to large room setups with multiple screens. People who not in the office can attend meetings from almost anywhere.

According to a recent rankings of ten desktop videoconferencing technology vendors, Vidyo is a strong overall performer with "the best overall video quality and performance." Forrester Research, Inc., who provided the rankings, stated that Vidyo's video quality remained the best even with a large number of participants. Forrester also gave Vidyo the top spot for its technology partners.

Why Vidyo is better and where they'll be leading tomorrow

Ofer Shapiro, the CEO and co-founder of Vidyo, stated that the company was honored by the recognition and that the company strives to continue to develop the best video solutions for its customers and partners. Vidyo credits its top video quality to its scalable video coding (SVC) architecture. In addition to other projects with its technology partners, Vidyo continues to work with Google to enhance video in the WebRTC. The WebRTC is an open-source project that will allow the web to operate with real time communication.

Poor quality and performance will leave users skeptical about using the technology

One of the challenges with introducing desktop video conferencing to an organization is encouraging active use amongst your employees. The last thing you need to worry about is poor performance or quality during an online meeting. In most cases, one or two bad experiences will frustrate staff and lead them back to traditional communication over the phone. Unfortunately, they now miss out on the resounding impact that visual communication, such as, desktop video conferencing can have on your internal and external relationships.

One of the key components to the Vidyo technology that makes it so simple and effective is it's built-in SVC technology. The SVC technology has been standard with Vidyo since it's start and has been continually developed and refined. Many other traditional vendors in the telepresence market have made the switch to use SVC recently, however, still require extensive development to remotely match what Vidyo is doing today.

This past century has seen emerging communications markets skip an
entire generation of technology infrastructure, namely, the wired
telephone system. Large portions of the population in countries like
India and China now have cell phones in areas that never had traditional
landlines.

If these countries build a transportation infrastructure based on the
model in the United States, the emissions could have a major impact on
the climate. However, if they choose to skip a generation of
infrastructure, emissions growth will be far more manageable. In an
effort to do this very thing, China has been investing heavily in modern
mass transit, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT). They
have surpassed the United States in both these areas and yet Americans
cling to the outdated model.

Can we achieve a similar critical dematerialization of communications through telepresence as an effective substitute for much repetitive business travel? We need to do it, and we now have the technology to do it. So my best guess is—to coin a phrase—‘yes we can’.

Paul Dickinson, as CEO of the Carbon Disclosure
Project (CDP), used these words to rally his troops behind the
telepresence revolution. As part of their ‘yes we can’ attitude the CDP
conducted a comprehensive study
examining the environmental and economic benefits of using telepresence
in the short term, and after long-term, large-scale adoption of this
technology.

The CDP study piggybacked on the Smart 2020 Report
that forecasts an emissions savings of 7.8 billion tons of CO2 by 2020
through the smart integration of ICT in the workplace, and personal
space. In an effort to better quantify the environmental and financial
impact of telepresence, the CDP collected data from 15 of the Global 500
companies that have already upgraded to the telepresence model.

The CDP concluded that telepresence could avoid millions of tons of
CO2. A single business with four telepresence rooms can reduce CO2
emissions by the equivalent of 400 passenger vehicles in the span of
five years, 2,271 metric tons. Implementing telepresence throughout the
US has the potential to reduce emissions by almost a million metric tons
per year.

Besides the environmental benefits, the CDP study also concluded that
deployment of telepresence in businesses with annual revenues of more
than $1 billion could see an economy wide financial benefit of $3.5
billion by 2020 and this is in the US alone.

Honk! Honk! Beep! Beep! Oh, the sounds of rush hour traffic. A lot worse than usual, and you only have 30 minutes left to make that important meeting. You left in plenty of time. Well, better call the team and let them know you will be late.

Sound familiar? It’s a very common occurrence and there is a solution. A solution to make all morning meetings forever be on time. Video conferencing from home. Yes, that’s right. Everyone sit down in your favorite comfy chair at home, turn on those laptops, connect to the video conferencing service, and have your favorite morning drink by your side (no alcohol please, or at least don’t make it obvious).

Sounds wonderful. But, there is a problem. There is a rumor that it is to expensive to setup video conferencing. Or is it? If your company is going to buy all the hardware, software and possible bandwidth increase required to setup video conferencing than, yes, it will be expensive. And some companies prefer this way and have the funds to do it. However, it is not written anywhere that you must do it this way. There is an alternative.

There are businesses designed to service your video conferencing needs. These businesses acquire all the needed hardware, software, and telecommunications connections (a.k.a. lots of bandwidth) required for a great video conferencing experience. These video conferencing service companies will than share their investment and technology with you, at a fraction of the price it would have cost your business to do the entire setup internally. In addition, they have the knowledge and experience to support and maintain these services.

There are a few ways you can implement video conferencing services. It doesn’t have to be an all or nothing scenario. Here are some ideas:

You can sign up for the service to do a proof of concept. In other words, evaluate video conferencing as a new tool before deploying it company-wide. The feedback you receive from a select group in your workforce, will be invaluable to helping deploy telepresence as a communication tool company-wide.

If you decide to setup video conferencing in house, but don’t have the expertise to manage it, no problem. Outsource the skill set from an expert in the video conferencing business.

Sign up for the service and use it full time for your video conferencing communications needs.

Implementing video conferencing into your business doesn't need to be expensive or scarey. Just find a video conferencing service provider to do all the expensive and hard stuff for you. Which leaves you with only one serious decision. Honk! Honk! Beep! Beep! first thing in the morning? Or the restfulness of your favorite chair to get that morning meeting started on time, every time.

Batipi is a video conferencing service provider. They offer cutting edge technology, cloud hosting, flexible pricing plans, and great customer service that includes a single point of contact. Best of all their service can support connections from a PC, MAC, iPhone, iPad, or Android capable devices.